The Dragon Age games are a rarity in gaming. Not only is Dragon Age one of few game franchises to feature player controlled romances, but it’s also one of few games to feature prominent LGBT characters or romances and present them in a good light too. The latest entry in the series, Dragon Age: Inquisition, was the third Dragon Age title to feature LGBT characters and it was backed up by previous comments from Lead Writer David Gaider who defended the series’ queer romances from those who think that BioWare (the developer of the Dragon Age games) have an agenda. That approach to LGBT representation has paid off too as leading LGBT group GLAAD have given Dragon Age: Inquisition a Special Recognition award.

Kickstarter is a massively useful tool for the games industry. Not only does it allow us to show the gaming world what we’re interested in (and what there’s a niche for) but it allows us to get our hands on some brilliant gaming experiences too. Experience that (most likely) would never have made it to release if a stat-obsessed publisher had been at the helm. It means that anyone, anywhere, with a great idea has the chance to make their video game brainchild a reality. But Kickstarter also has its downsides. Namely, there have been a few cases or developers not delivering on promises or just hightailing it with the money altogether. Nonetheless, 2014 was a record year for games on the crowdfunding platform, according to official statistics.

As the popular holiday tune goes – ‘Rockin’ around the Christmas tree with your plastic instruments!’ – because as everyone knows, Rock Band is the quintessential party game. Few games will ever be able to recreate the social slayage of playing Rock Band with a group of your closest pals (or your most elderly relatives) and although Harmonix have continued to dabble in the world of rhythm games with titles like (the quite good) A City Sleeps, the Rock Band series is still the shiniest jewel in their crown. Just as well then that Harmonix have slashed the prices on multiple Rock Band games and their downloadable track packs in time for Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Full details on the sale below.

Winter is a good time to be a gamer. There are Christmas competitions left and right and a boatload of free time to dig into the industry’s biggest titles. Also in the name of festive cheer and chilly weather are the many sales. Steam are about to launch their very own discount bonanza but Ubisoft is a contender too as in their Winter sale they have discounts of up to 80% on over 300 games. More details and bargain picks after the break.

Black Friday is soon upon us (tomorrow as of the time of writing) which means that while our friends over the pond guzzle all manner of turkey dishes and their appropriate trimmings, we get to take advantage of the deals. The latest retailer to jump on the budget buy bandwagon is UK gaming brand GAME. Their Black Friday bonanza kicks off proper tomorrow but for the rest of the day they have some fantastic offers on including Battlefield 4, Remember Me and Dishonored.

A female-led platformer with RPG elements and a story told entirely in rhyme, to say that Child of Light is a weird one is putting it lightly. But in this case weird meant wonderful. Other than its unlikely concept, it was an also an unlikely title for Ubisoft who are known for the popular (and sometimes broken) Assassin’s Creed games, the bombastic Far Cry franchise and stealth shooter series Splinter Cell. However, after taking a gamble on such an unusual yet delightful game, Child of Light has turned a profit and a sequel may be on the cards now too.

Depending on how good you are at rifling through bargain bins, PlayStation Now is either a whopping great deal or an unnecessary service. The ‘killer’ feature of PS Now is that it cuts out the downloads, the updates and all of those time-wasting gubbins and streams the game directly to your device (PS3, PS4, PS Vita or PS TV) of choice. Today, Sony announced that even more games will be added to the PS Now line-up including free-running classic Mirror’s Edge and space RPG Mass Effect 2.

What do we want? Well written, multi-dimensional female characters! When do we want them? Now! Bless you BioWare for paying attention to our peaceful demands, by giving Dragon Age: Inquisition‘s female characters actual character instead of being one note ‘strong’ women with more muscles than humanity. Returning character Cassandra Pentaghast is an extension of this, returning after a stint in Dragon Age 2 where she interrogated Varric until he began to sweat like a grizzly in a sauna. When we saw her last she was as hard as nails but this time Cassandra is tough, sympathetic and maybe love is on the cards for her too. Find out more after the break.

“A man dangerous enough to bring Satan to his knees but selfless enough to make God himself raise an eyebrow”. Is this the man you would trust to save the President of the United States/Ruler of the Entire World from the grasps of Hell? No, not really. Put a bunch of devastating weapons into his arsenal though and I might reconsider. Johnny Gat is the man in question and lucky for us (and for ol’ El Presidente), in Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell he has a whole bag of guns, armchairs and explosive devices to stick it to Satan. They’re based on the bible’s seven deadly sins which probably isn’t the sort of creativity that they were meant to inspire but alas, there’s a trailer for all of the weapons after the break.

Deals, glorious deals! Discounts and good bargains! I could be a songwriter, me, but for now I’m a humble deals reporter as Sony have announced a massive wealth of discounts on top of their earlier price slash this month and an Amazon-hosted sale that was also of good value. This new PSN sale runs a bit longer than those other two though, which I suppose is where the the allure is. There are PS4, PS3 and PS Vita games going cheap and you can find out more after the break.